Godsend

Heat President Pat Riley rolled the dice last summer and luckily it came up on 7, as in Lamar Odom's jersey number. On Friday afternoon, Riley called Odom a "godsend" in his second news conference in two days after keeping a low profile in his first season off the sidelines. "He came through for himself," said Riley, who was able to sign Odom to a six-year, $65 million contract last summer only after the Anthony Carter fiasco freed up an additional $12 million in free-agent spending cash.

When Pat Dudley joined the Broward State Attorney's Office 35 years ago, her bosses had no idea she'd take her job description -- support staff -- and make it a way of life. When she retires on Friday, the office will lose a gem. For most of her time in public service, Dudley's was the voice on the phone for countless people who lost loved ones in some of Broward County 's most infamous murders. But Dudley didn't just take their calls - she adopted the bereaved families.

As an RN with way too much disaster experience, I would like to alert your readers to a very important overlooked item. When donating canned goods, please include a can opener! Although cans can be opened with a machete, it is a risky procedure. Plain charcoal (not the self-starter kind) is a godsend as well. Bless you, everyone, for your open hearts. Deb Simon, Deerfield Beach

As an RN with way too much disaster experience, I would like to alert your readers to a very important overlooked item. When donating canned goods, please include a can opener! Although cans can be opened with a machete, it is a risky procedure. Plain charcoal (not the self-starter kind) is a godsend as well. Bless you, everyone, for your open hearts. Deb Simon, Deerfield Beach

What a magnificent job the television and radio media did keeping us apprised of everything about Hurricane Frances, before and after. To those of us without power, it was a godsend. Also, we are indebted to all the local and federal agencies too numerous to mention, the ones we could see or hear and to those behind the scenes. I am in awe of all the wonderful things done by all the volunteer organizations. All of you have my undying gratitude. I applaud and commend you. Bravo.

The pastors.com site can be a godsend to overworked clergy, pulling in suggested sermons and background information onto one home page. Other resources include film reviews, news items and schedules for training conferences. Perks on this well-organized site are Bible software, MIDI music downloads, message boards and free e-mail. Navigation is eased by lining up crosslinks and backlinks across the top of the screen, rather than in a framed rail on the left side. Unfortunately, the whole site seems to load slowly, even on our fast T1 Internet line.

MIAMI BEACH -- The last time a title fight was held outdoors in Miami Beach, the weather played a bigger role than any left hook or right cross. The date was May 26, 1984. The fight pitted World Boxing Council bantamweight champion Albert Davila against challenger Enrique Sanchez. Early in the bout, Davila was being pummeled by Sanchez, his face visibly marked. Then, in what turned out to be a godsend for Davila, a fierce thunderstorm blew in from the ocean. Thinking on his feet, Davila backed himself into the ropes, and, with his opponent unable to see through the driving rain, knocked out Sanchez in Round 12. Davila later called the rain "holy water."

Scouting Kreutz The anchor of a Bears offensive line that allowed just 1.6 sacks a game while paving the way for the league's 15th-ranked rushing attack, the 6-foot-2, 292-pound center was selected to his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl. It's critical that Kreutz handle McFarland alone so right tackle Fred Miller can help pave the way for the running back tandem of Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson.

Dear Abby: Two years ago, you gave information on how to order "Please Call Police" banners for the car. I had previously ordered some but somehow lost them. I would like to replace them and purchase some more for family members. Following my husband's heart surgery, they came in handy. After he was discharged from the hospital, our car died on the way home. We displayed the banner in the back window, and the police arrived quickly and helped us to get home. Would you please share that information again?

With no place else to go, Susan Perryman found a welcoming home at Hospicecare Southeast Florida a few months ago. Now in the final stages of a long fight with cancer, Perryman is giving back to the agency by donating the proceeds of holiday wreaths she has been creating and selling. "They've been so generous to me and this is my home now. It just seemed the right thing to do," said Perryman, 63, who moved to South Florida from California a year ago. She moved into the nonprofit Fort Lauderdale facility four months ago in the end stages of lymphoma.

The Weston Miracle League baseball program has been at Rose G. Price Park in Pembroke Pines for three years, but it has already had a profound impact on the lives of children and young adults with disabilities. From the first year in which there were 10 players and 10 volunteers, the league has expanded to about 30 players and 30 volunteers. The spurt of interest has been generated through an environment where everybody bats and gets to cross home plate, and the "buddies" (helpers)

The Road Ranger is our road angel. After experiencing a blown-out tire at the speed of 70 mph on Interstate 75 recently, we were grateful to be alive, let alone rescued by a Road Ranger. We were never so happy and ever so thankful for his professional assistance. Adele and Sam Borger, Tamarac

Some day Jovian Belizare will be able to say that while he wasn't born in the back of a station wagon, he did draw his first independent breath at a gas station. On Tuesday at Coral Springs Medical Center, the day-old boy was keeping mum. He was snuggling in the arms of his delighted and grateful mother, Marie Belizare, and reuniting with the bus driver who helped bring him into the world, Mary Kilroy. "Oh, it was so neat," said Kilroy, of Tamarac. Belizare "was just so glad when it was over with.

With no place else to go, Susan Perryman found a welcoming home at Hospicecare Southeast Florida a few months ago. Now in the final stages of a long fight with cancer, Perryman is giving back to the agency by donating the proceeds of holiday wreaths she has been creating and selling. "They've been so generous to me and this is my home now. It just seemed the right thing to do," said Perryman, 63, who moved to South Florida from California a year ago. She moved into the nonprofit Fort Lauderdale facility four months ago in the end stages of lymphoma.

The Florida Department of Children & Families unveiled plans this week to open 42 low-cost apartments for teenagers moving from foster care to independent adult living. The cavalry's arrival can't come soon enough. Foster care services are phased out at age 18, and typically life for those young adults who have been wards of the state takes a grim turn once it does. Up to 40 percent of them, for example, spend at least one night homeless after losing state services. The new apartments, located next to the South Florida State Hospital in Pembroke Pines, will offer rents from around $450 to $500 a month.

Scouting Kreutz The anchor of a Bears offensive line that allowed just 1.6 sacks a game while paving the way for the league's 15th-ranked rushing attack, the 6-foot-2, 292-pound center was selected to his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl. It's critical that Kreutz handle McFarland alone so right tackle Fred Miller can help pave the way for the running back tandem of Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson.

A rookie undercover officer is inside a house, making a drug deal that some officers feared would turn into a rip-off. Outside, his partners are watching, fearing the worst, wishing they could pick up a phone and warn the rookie to get out. "We ended up surrounding the house, basically breaking all the windows," Sgt. Dennis Gavalier of the Broward Sheriff`s Office Organized Crime Division recalls. "I`ll never forget the officer running out of the house with his hands tied and mouth gagged."

Mere hours after the last gales of Hurricane Andrew -- and days before the first military supplies arrived -- church agencies were deploying their own troops to the aid of South Floridians. Working with the American Red Cross, using methods designed originally for Third World countries, the workers brought food, water, building supplies and a growing army of volunteers. Their quick response was made possible largely by their constituent churches, which have supplied scouts and forward bases for the assault on suffering.

For the congregation at the Ambassador Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lauderdale Lakes, it was a dream come true that some might say was accented by a little divine intervention. In fact, some of the congregation members are calling the recent purchase of a new church building, which a little more than a year ago was the home of the area's oldest Jewish congregations, a miracle. "It was really a godsend," says Albert Daley, first elder of the 12-year-old congregation. "We read about the miracles of the Red Sea and of crossing the Jordan River, but this is something we've seen with our own eyes."